Surgical procedures such as stricturoplasty and pyloroplasty are performed to remove tissues at narrowed regions within the lumens of organs and other body structures. Stricturoplasty, for example, is performed in response to scar tissue that has built up in a patient's intestinal wall from inflammatory bowel conditions such as Crohn's disease. The scar tissue causes a stricture or narrowing of the lumen in the bowel. Pyloroplasty is performed to widen the opening at the pylorus, a thick, muscular area in the lower part of the stomach, to enhance the ability of stomach contents to empty into the small intestine. Electrocautery devices are sometimes used to incise the obstructive tissue during procedures of these types. However, it can be difficult to control parameters such as the depth and length of the incision when using devices of these types for these procedures.
There remains, therefore, a need for improved intraluminal cutting devices. Such devices that are capable of effectively removing tissue, while enabling efficacious control over the depth and length of the incision, would be especially desirable.